Tuesday, March 11, 2014

An abandoned NSA spying station in Berlin

Teufelsberg (German for Devil's Mountain) is an artificial hill in west Berlin built by Second World War rubble. On top of that hill is where the American National Security Agency (NSA) built one of its largest listening stations. 'The Hill', as it was known to American soldiers, began operation in 1961 while a permanent construction was built in 1963. It remained active until the fall of East Germany and the Berlin Wall, but after that the station was closed and the equipment removed. A group of investors bought the hill in the early 90s from the City of Berlin with the intention to build hotels and apartments but this never happened. Today, the buildings and radar domes still remain in place.